Prewar Backlash
by Cleland Warwood
Summary: The responsibilities are endless for the General of the Minutemen, The Railroad's Secret Weapon, and the Sentinel of the Brotherhood of Steel. But, when an organized group of people threatens everything she's been trying to build, she considers them no more than a gunner or raider. But, when one of her best friends mysteriously goes missing, it means war. And war, war never changes
1. chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sound of makeshift light bulbs flickering through the wasteland night, the generators running in the distance, and the rain hitting makeshift patches on the roof was no match for the laughter coming from one of the houses in Sanctuary Hills. Inside were a bunch of friends, savoring some Nuka-Cola and telling stories.

"I'm not bullshitting, Nora literally picked up her Farman and loaded the Mini Nuke that she carved 'Have a Nice Day' on and sent it straight into a group of Raiders." His grin shining in the light just as much as his sunglasses. Deacon always knew how to put a good twist on a story, whether or not it was true.

"And, and," Nora said, pretending that wipe away a tear, "they didn't even have time to react. They had power armor and a goddamn grenade launcher just a few feet away!"

"They didn't even know we were there!" Deacon added.

"Christ, that's one rude awakening! I can just imagine them sleeping soundly and just all of a sudden a fucking mini nuke goes off," Hancock chuckled, almost choking on his beer.

"I've heard of using the shadows to your tactical advantage, but launching a mini nuke from the shadows takes that kind of thinking to a whole other level," Danse said covering his mouth, trying to contain his giggles.

"So there is a sense of humor underneath all of that soldier seriousness we know and love," Mccready said with a smirk.

"If you guys think that was fun, wait till I tell you about the time when we went to go check out the old Museum of Witchcraft." Deacon leaned in and rubbed his hands together as if he was about to enjoy a meal.

"Do go on!" Nora said she knew it was about to get rich. But that's when they heard a quiet knocking at the door. An awkward silence fell throughout the room, "I got it," Nora volunteered. The sparkling dress she was wearing fluttered as she walked by Mccready who snuck a peek at what was underneath. Nora turned around and gave him a quick smile before opening the door. It was little Shaun.

"Hey, mom." He said, rubbing his right eye.

"Hey Shaun, what's a matter sweetie? Can't sleep?"

"I had a nightmare," Shaun said, rubbing his eye. His forehead was sweaty and he had a terrified look in his eye.

"Come on hun, I'll tuck you in," Nora said, she lifted him up in her arms. He snuggled up against her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Sorry guys, we'll have to continue this some other time. I had fun though!" Nora said, being a mother and the General of the Minutemen, the Railroad's Secret Weapon, and the Sentinel for the Brotherhood of Steel was so time consuming that it was hard for her to get everybody together like this. When she did, it was almost too much fun, to the point where it sucked when duty called.

"Hey, don't worry about it pal. We'll finish this up another time," Deacon said, he stood up and finished off the last bit of his Nuka-Cola.

"Don't worry about us princess, you just get little Shaun to bed and get some rest yourself. We can clean up," Mccready said, smiling to reassure her that it was no big deal.

"Thanks, MacCready, see you later," Nora said, smiling as she shut the door.

Shaun snuggled closer to Nora as she opened the door to his room. It was the house that she had planned to live in before the war, it was her last memory. White picket fences, green grass, Nate sipping coffee, Nate watching television, Nate kissing her on the forehead and holding her so close she felt safe during a war with the threat of an outcome that she'd been living. Now it looks as best as it can in post-apocalyptic Sanctuary Hills. The fences as fixed as she could get them, debris and clutter cleaned to a degree, and as many holes in the roof she could patch up. Home sweet home.

She tucked Shaun in, tightly as she could, so he'd feel safe from the nightmares that have been plaguing him the past few weeks.

"There you go Shaun, comfy?"

"Mother, it happened again. You didn't come back and I was worried. I was so worried."

"Oh Shaun, didn't you know? I'm a superhero, practically invincible. I'm not going anywhere." Nora leaned in and kissed his forehead, rubbing it in with her thumb so her love stayed there longer. "Goodnight, no more bad dreams, ok?"

"Wait, can you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep? I'll be quick, I promise," Shaun pleaded.

"Sure Shaun," Nora said with a sigh. She laid back in her chair, resting her head on her hand and watched her little boy doze off. Soon, her eyes began to wander, she looked at all the things in his room. Some were Shaun's original toys, his little toy car and baby rattle survived.

She carefully leaned over and, without making a sound, picked up the little toy car. All of a sudden, she was back home. Her real home, where her heart was, with Nate and giggling little Shaun. His little hand, soft and tight around her index finger. His little grip went right to the sole.

Her eyes filled up with tears. She put down the toy car as fast as she could, pushing the memory out of her mind. _No,_ she thought, _I can't keep thinking about the past. It's gone and there's nothing that could bring it back._ It was like a big brick wall was blocking that realization. No matter what the cold hard truth was, it was the same flashbacks that haunted her.

The blaring, horrible sound snapped Nora awake. Her neck cracked as the sudden realization that she had fallen asleep in the chair next to Shaun's bed hit her like a freight train. Shaun woke up with a fright.

"Mom, what's going on?"

"I don't know baby, Hold on, it'll be ok," Nora said, pushing herself up. She rushed to the window and saw Maccready taking cover behind a house. Sanctuary Hills was under attack. "Shaun, get anything valuable. That you absolutely need, now!" Shaun's face squished into worry. He jumped out of bed and threw on his shirt and pants.

"All set mom, what now?" Shaun asked. Without a word, a heavily armored, vault suit wearing Nora grabbed Shaun's hand and ran out the front door. They were immediately under fire. MacCready began laying down covering fire, as the two sprinted over to Garvey and the other settlers they had taken in.

"Preston, what the hell is going on!?" Nora shouted. It was hard to hear over the constant machine gun fire.

"A vertibird came in, it looked like one of the Brotherhood's until they started shooting at us!" Preston gritted his teeth, even the safest of places can never be fully prepared for a surprise attack.

"Crap!" MacCready screamed from back behind his cover position. Nora snapped her attention over to him, he was down and holding his side.

"Shit," Nora slammed her fist against the house in anger, MacCready was hit and usually when Macready gets hit they're in for a tough fight. She turned and looked at the settlers she had taken under her wing, they needed to get out of the way, somewhere safe. "Preston, get these people and my son over to Vault 111. You send them down there until I give the all clear."

"Yes, general," he said. Preston was upset, about something. Nora could tell, maybe it was because this whole situation was a little too familiar for him to ignore.

"Mom, I told you I can handle myself!" Shaun yelled.

"Shaun, this is not the time. Hun, I need you safe, just go. It'll be ok," Nora said, she gave him one last kiss before one of the settlers dragged him away up the mountain. She blew him one last kiss as she watched them cross the river. Then, it was game time. How could anyone be so stupid as to walk and attack her main base of operations and expect to win with one vertibird and, if she were to guess, a hand full of soldiers then they are gonna get one hell of a surprise. As she adjusted her combat helmet, she got a little reminder of how stiff everything felt. Regretting falling asleep in that chair, she picked up her Heavy Automatic Assault Rifle and peered around the corner. She counted 4 troops, couldn't tell which faction, one in a suit of power armor and the rest basically either naked or armored up. She took the safety off and went in guns a-blazing. Focusing on the guy in power armor who thought he was tough, she charged forward. With a bang, his helmet shattered into pieces and blood shot everywhere. His eyes were red, even from where Nora was standing.

"I can't see!" He shouted, staggering backward in pain. Nora's perfect moment to attack, she took several frag grenades and tossed them into the air, they landed straight into the 4 man group, killing all in one giant explosion. Putting away her gun, she rushed over to Maccready who was sitting against the house he was using as cover.

"You know, I keep forgetting how fricken dangerous you are, until little reminders like that hit me with brute force," Maccready said, attempting to lighten the mood. Nora looked down at his wound, his green coat had been completely soaked through already. She dropped down to her knees and pulled out her backpack. She grabbed a couple stimpacks and jabbed one into his arm. "Ow," Maccready winced and held his side tighter, "little… warning next time?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Nora chuckled, "Where are all the others?"

"Spread to the fucki-, ugh, spread out to the winds. That vertibird surprised us," MacCready started slurring his speech, "but… the amount of gun fire I hear tells me… at least they're close," MacCready said. His head felt like it could roll off at any time. He was losing too much blood. Nora gritted her teeth. She didn't have a doctor on sight. One of the Minutemen settlements was attacked and one of the settlers had been injured. Nora had instructed Curie to stay and help out, but now she was regretting it. Her job was to protect and help the people of the Commonwealth and help them out any way she could. The whole General of The Minuteman job was in the description. That settler wasn't as bad as MacCready was right now.

"Ah shit, MacCready, look at me, alright?" Nora said, lifting up his drooping head, "I can't lose you, I won't. Stay with me."

"Wouldn't dream of running out on you," MacCready winced. It was like a sea of black was slowly rising in his vision. Nora seized a blood pack and hooked MacCready up to it, 50 liters of blood began pumping into his system.

"You're so lucky I'm such a great scavver," Nora smirked.

"You're right… I am. Feeling better already."

"I gotta get back out there, get rid of these bastards and teach them a lesson," Nora said. She zipped her backpack up and pulled out her gun.

"Nora, wait," MacCready said. He stood up, ignoring his body's instant plead to sit back down and the complete threat of passing out, MacCready pulled Nora into a kiss. He held it for as long as he could until it was impossible to stand any longer. He lost his balance and leaned on Nora as she helped him back down. Maccready refused to let of her hand and pulled her in close. "Be careful, I don't know if I could handle losing you. Don't do something stupid," Maccready whispered.

"I'm always careful," Nora kissed his forehead, "I love you." It took every ounce of strength to pull herself away. Maccready was hurt and it turned her stomach as she sprinted away. But, turning back wasn't an option. This place was to important to lose. In the distance, Nora spotted a familiar red hat and matching colonial coat and a someone in combat armor. They were fighting together.

"Oh, this is rich," Nora said to herself, "the fun I'm gonna have with these two once this is done," Nora said, chuckling at her own imagination. She ran straight into the fight. "Hey, guys," Nora said as she gunned down a guy, "What did I miss?"

"Not much, you know, another day in the commonwealth," Hancock replied.

"Someone should definitely," Nora pulled her old friend Kellogg's Pistol out and cleared more of them out, "Put that in the brochure for this place. "Come see the great historical Salem Museum of Witchcraft and the great terrifying deathclaw avenging the eggs that were stolen from his nest," she threw a couple frag grenades as more of a Hail Mary shot than a tactical decision. Nora was starting to have a little bit of fun. "And, when you've gotten enough salem history for the next three generations of your family, stop by the Slocums Joe," Nora switched back to her automatic weapon and started an ol' spray-n-pray, "where they serve government secrets and Gen 1 Synths for breakfast!"

"You two are ridiculous!" Danse yelled from across the street.

"He's right, I'm running out of people to shoot and the amount of fun your having is on a timer. It's like being high on psycho."

"Ain't that the truth," Nora said, pointing out the last surviving soldier. "Hey asshole, stand down or you're gonna turn into a bad batch of Blamco Mac'n'Cheese!"

"Are you feeling me? Because, in order to get the full picture, you gotta look around. All your friends seem to be very very dead." Hancock said, motioning to the complete carnage all around him. Surely enough, the guy came out, unarmed, with his hands in the air.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nora held her head and took a breather from the constant tasks that she and Preston had to deal with. She'd been fixing up Sanctuary Hill's for the past 2 days, with barely any sleep. The settlers were scared, their crops had been destroyed along with the water purifier, and they had lost a couple of loved ones during the fight. The stress was overbearing and MacCready constantly under medical, watch made it worse. She laid back on her bed and closed her eyes. It felt like someone was squeezing her head from the inside. It wasn't long until she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

"Hey pal, mind if I come in?" Deacon asked. Nora's eyes flashed open and she sat up with a jolt.

"Sure Deek, come on in. Got a seat for you, right here," Nora said, a smile plastered on her face. Deacon entered the room, two Whiskey bottles in hand. He sat down, on the bed next to Nora and handed her a bottle.

"Thank you, Deacon, I really needed this," Nora said. She popped the cap off, added it to the thousand of caps she already had. Deacon lifted his bottle up, Nora smiled, "Cheers!" She said, they both clanked their bottles together and took a swig of the age old Whiskey.

"So, you've been busy the last couple of days. Like, way more than usual. How are you holding up?" Deacon asked. He saw the little spark in her eye fade just a tad and her phony smile disappear. He new something was up.

"You know Deek, to be honest, you already know the answer to that question."

"You're right, I do. Because, right now, I can read you like an open book. I know you and MacCready are an item, as Nick would put it. I'd bet you'd wanna be right by his side now and, believe me, I totally get it. But, Nora, if I can read you this easily the others can too. Your people need you to be strong right now. It's gonna give them hope," Deacon said.

"Heh, Deacon, you always know just what to say," Nora took another swig of her Whiskey, "Wait a second, where were you during that entire fight?"

"That, my friend, was the weirdest thing. When that vertibird came in I was like 'look it's the goddamn brotherhood of steel' but it surprised the hell out of me when it started shooting. The only cover I had was a bush, so I dove straight into it. But, here's the catch; instead of stopping perfectly safe behind the best damn defense anyone has ever seen, I start rolling down a fairly large hill and find myself in the stream at the bottom," Deacon said, smiling from cheek to cheek.

"Oh good god," Nora chuckled.

"Yep, that was about the time where a group of 5 people started firing shotguns, pistols, a fricken minigun. Ok, maybe minus the minigun. But, boy, did I ever get myself into a jam."

"Wow, talk about a whole 'fish outta water' ordeal," Nora snorted.

"Ah, the time honored tradition of puns. How could you not love it?" Deacon smirked. Nora was starting to feel the burn from giggling too hard. It took a while for the story to stop being funny and awkward silence to fall throughout the room. Deacon's smile had disappeared, it soon became clear to Nora that something else was still on his mind. "Nora?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna head back over to HQ, get them well informed of what just happened here. Our Heavys and Caretakers need to know they have something to new look out for before anything gets too bloody."

"Good idea, as if they didn't have enough people to deal with."

"Hey, keep preaching to the quire, it's annoying as hell," Deacon said. He finished off the last of his whiskey and stood up. "Well, I gotta get going."

"Wait, already? We could still use your help here," Nora said, she stood up in between him and the door.

"Trust me when I say this, I really do want to help out. It's just, I don't know what hit us, Nora, that was pretty bizarre. They tore right through your defenses, the ones that were basically 'don't even think about it' capacity," Deacon frowned. Nora sighed and dove right in for a hug. Deacon stumbled his words in surprise, "Uh, wha-what?" He felt stiff and dragged down, he had to fight to just hug back.

"Promise me you'll be back soon?" Nora asked, tears were threatening to escape her eyes. Deacon lowered his head and hugged her tighter.

"Sure, pal, sure."

The rebuilding of Sanctuary Hills was going superbly well. Houses were being fixed up, the destroyed houses were being replaced with a new shack, and the defenses were getting a serious beef up. Now all they had to do was figure out who attacked them in the first place.

The guy that surrendered was having trouble getting comfortable in his new quarters. Maybe it had something to do with the specially made cage for him. Hancock had been in charge of watching the creep, he was enjoying it.

"I work for very powerful people, if you hold me any longer they are going to send an even bigger group of soldiers to get me back!" Jace yelled, loud enough for everybody to hear within an earshot.

"Now, now, let's not get too hasty. If these guys are as powerful as you say they are, then I highly doubt they'd worry about a little pawn like you. Who ever they are, they have bigger fish to fry than you Mr. "High-n'-Mighty. You feel me?" Hancock shot back.

"You'll be sorr-"

"Hancock! How's the fish food business coming along?" Nora interrupted.

"I don't think words could describe how annoying this little a-hole is," Hancock said. Nora laughed.

"You ready to send him to the grill?" Nora said. She peered at the guy and made sure he thought she was crazy. Nora swore she could hear his heartbeat.

"With pleasure," Hancock said. Rubbing his hands together he approached the cage and got eye level with him. Got real up close, to show off his handsome ghoul face. So close, that the guy could tell what Hancock had for breakfast. "Here's the situation, you dig? You're here with us, right now and nobody knows you're still alive. The only way this is going to go smoothly, for you, is if you tell us what we want to know. You feel me?" The guy's brown eyes widened in horror.

"How about we start off with an easy question? What's your name?" Nora asked. His grip got tighter around the bars of the cage, he tilted his head so his dirty blond hair covered most of his face. He had been stripped of all armor and all of his belongings and stored somewhere far far away. The military figurines where all he had on his person.

"Chase."

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Hancock said, his grin was terrifying. Hancock new something wasn't right about this guy, it seemed off.

"Ok, Chase, who do you work for?" Nora asked, leaning in.

"It's complicated, you wouldn't understand."

"Chase, buddy, pal; the nice lady asked you a question. We happen to be very pissed off that your guys shot one of my best pals and her romantic interest. So, it would be good for your health to answer the damn question," Hancock said. Chase sighed and gritted his teeth.

"I _can't_ tell you," he said. Peering into Nora's eyes, an angry grimace on his face.

"Aww, what a shame," Hancock said, pulling out a syringer rifle. He loaded it with a Berserk Syringe and aimed it at Chase, "You ever had one of these babies launched into your blood system? I've tried every drug known to man and this one isn't made for a "feel good" reaction."

"Who are you working for?" Nora asked, a harsh snarl on appeared on her face.

"Woah, Woah, ok, Christ. I'll tell you everything just put down the weapon," Chase said, hands in front of him like they would stop a bullet.

"That's what I like to hear Chase," Hancock said, lowering the rifle.

"I'm… I'm from a vault. Vault D94."

"What, D94? Vault Tec doesn't number they're vaults like that!" Nora said, trying to call bullshit.

"It wasn't made by vault tec, but by the government in secret. Hell, even the President didn't know of its existence."

"Keep talking," Nora said, folding her arms.

"It was made for all the top Generals and their families, it also had one of the C.I.T's best scientist flew in when they first predicted doomsday."

"Where is the vault located?" Nora asked.

"In Mount Mitchell, North Carolina."

"Damn, where the hell is North Carolina?" Hancock asked.

"North of South Carolina," Nora joked, "Yeah, they did shut that park down for a good 3 or 4 years and claimed that there was too much trash everywhere. Did a government pickup of the place. Guess they lied about that too."

"So, why come here? To the Commonwealth of all places?" Hancock asked.

"We were communicating with the Institute, sharing scientific ideas and marvels. But then the place went dark because you blew it up," Chase said, hate in his voice.

"Damn, so you were going for some ol' fashioned revenge? Guess what, news flash they were a bunch of assholes. Stuck up and selfish. Just what kind of bullshit were you working on with the Institute?"

"I already told you too much." Chase lowered his head in defeat and folded his arms. Leaning against the bar, he slid down and sat there.

"Well, I'll be damned," Hancock exclaimed.

""I'll tell you one more thing, the guy in charge is really pissed off. He want's your head mounted to a wall," Chase said, looking up at Nora with beady eyes.

"Hancock, come with me, I'll put Danse on watch duty. You've done enough for one day."

"Alright, if that's what you want," Hancock said as he followed her on the route to her house. She told Danse to watch the prisoner and walked over to Preston. She explained to him the situation.

"Is it just me, or does the Institute have some sort of immortal juice somewhere. Because this is getting ridiculous!" Hancock exclaimed.

"At this point, I think that might be true," Preston said, "But, he could be lying. You think he's telling the truth?"

"I do, that's what my gut tells me," Nora said, "Good thing Deacon left when he did, so that The Railroad is hopefully on high alert," Nora crossed her arms, "these people are mighty angry and might have their own opinions about what kind of work they do."

"Yeah, not to mention all the pre war tech that was preloaded into that Vault they were in. My guess is, it would give the Brotherhood a run for their money," Hancock added.

"If they're Vault was in North Carolina, why waste the fuel to get over here in the first place?" Preston asked.

"They must have a base stationed somewhere," Hancock said, adjusting his hat.

"Guess we have another question for our guest!" Nora said, rubbing her hands together. "Shall w-" Nora was cut off from her sentence when she saw a settler running towards her. A look of concern appeared on Nora's face. Hancock followed Nora's locked on gaze and his eyes widened in horror. It was the doctor that Curie was training, due to Curie's absence she was in charge of the folks who got injured during the attack. Including MacCready. Nora didn't know what would come next. The Doctor approached them, stopping for a second to catch her breath before delivering the news she painstakingly ran so urgently for.

"Hey, General, good news: MacCready's awake… he want's to see you." Nora was so happy, she could almost literally jump for joy. She made eye contact with Hancock, who had a cheek to cheek smile and nodded.

"Let's go then, questioning the fish food can wait," Nora said as she took off, full sprint towards the house that they named as, The Hospital. It was where all the injured settlers, from the attack, were placed so they'd be under constant medical supervision as they recovered. She blasted through the door and straight into MacCready's hospital room. There he was. Sitting up right, a weak smile on his face, his hat on the night stand next to him, and sweaty hair matted to his forehead.

"You are awake!" Nora gasped. Hancock followed her in through the doorway and was pleased to see MacCready.

"Ah, MacCready, welcome back to the land of the living," Hancock said, leaning against the doorway.

"Good to be back," MacCready said, weakly. Nora walked over to the side of his bed and kneeled down grabbing his hand.

"I was so worried," Nora said, squeezing his hand tight.

"It's ok, I'm gonna be fine," MacCready said, "Hell, I survived a ton of bricks falling onto me in Little Lamplight, a gunshot wound is a piece of cake."

"You know MacCready, it's a wonder how you haven't died yet," said Hancock with a smirk.

"Only one person keeping me alive right now and that's Nora. Without her, I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere already," MacCready said.

"You're goddamn right! If I had a cap for every time I had to kick someone's ass before they kick yours, I'd already have myself a pony," Nora said with a grin.

"Speaking of shooting people before they shoot me. Who were those guys who attacked us?" MacCready asked. Nora stood up, an angry look on her face.

"Those assholes were working with the Institute and they got kind of a grudge against us at the moment," Hancock said.

"They are descendants from the top guys in the United States military, raised in a Vault. A secret government vault that the President of the United States didn't know existed," Nora said, "we managed to grab one of their own after the fight."

"Well, I'll be darned," MacCready said.

"Just another day in the Commonwealth, huh MacCready?" Hancock said.

"Yeah, never know when someone who's been frozen in a Vault for 200 years would come knocking on my door in need of an extra gun."

"Yep, that's me. A walking, freshly thawed, frozen banana and boy oh boy did I ever get into some mischief!" Nora joked. MacCready chuckled, then his wound started hurting which caused him to grab it and wince in pain.

"Ah, I totally forgot for a second," MacCready said.

"Hey, if you could go a second without there being a painful reminder, it's a good sign," Hancock said.

"General!" Nora snapped her head to the window and saw Preston standing near one of her street lights. _How did it get dark so fast?_ She asked herself.

"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere," MacCready smiled. Nora gave him a kiss on the cheek before she and Hancock went to go investigate. Upon exiting the house, she noticed a new face standing with Preston.

"Hey, Garvey, who's this?" Nora asked, motioning towards the lady that stood next to Preston. She was in a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. Sturn, dark, and baggy brown eyes and dark hair.

"I don't know," he said, "she kept asking me if I had a Geiger Counter. I don't know if she needs help or what." Hancock and Nora looked at eachother for a moment, Nora's face was twisted with worry.

"Miss, could we possibly speak in private," the lady asked. Nora nodded and beckoned her to follow her. Nora took the lady to her house, where they sat down in the living room; all doors and windows were shut. "Do you have a geiger counter?" The Railroad agent asked.

"Mine is in the shop."

"Good, listen, I got a telegram from HQ. Something about a dead drop gone wrong and I should go get you right away."

"What do you mean a dead drop gone wrong?"

"It was never picked up."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

The smell of musty rock and moss filled the air, the radio's set to a secret signal were beeping information via Morse Code. Desdemona held a cigarette in one hand and her head in the other. She stared with deep intent at the map in front of her, trying to figure out where her lost agent was. For once, she hoped they had gone rouge.

"Where are you Deacon?" Dez sighed. Just then, the door to the back entrance swung open and slammed shut.

"Dez!" Agent Charmer yelled from the back tunnel. Soon, Nora and Hancock, rushed to Dez's side and peered down at the marked up map in front of her. Blue pins in important locations, red where enemies had been spotted, and a new color which was white. "Did Deacon show up at all?"

"No, not at all," Dez said, tossing her cigarette onto the pile of smoldering ashes she had been neglecting to pick up for some time.

"Then, what's this business about not picking up a dead drop?" Nora said, confused.

"Before Deacon leaves to explore the Commonwealth, we send him off with a dead drop location, where we would send off useful information when he returns. That way, if there are enimies along the normal route to HQ, he knows about it. He was to go to that location and pick it up. We always have an agent watching that bin at all times, gave them a list of people who know about it, to make sure that no one just so happens to discover it," Dez pulled out a Technical Document with an encrypted message on it, "Someone found the bin alright. But instead of picking up, they were dropping off." Dez handed the paper to Nora who looked at it with curious eyes. The note read: "

"This looks like a Caesar Cipher to me," she said.

"That's what I thought too," Dez lit another cigarette and took a puff, "we have an agent working to decode it as we speak."

"But, then, there's the question: Where is Deacon?"

"We had a few sightings of him from a few railroad spies. The white pins on the map are where we confirmed the sighting." Nora looked down and studied it. There were white pins near the Boston Library, Swan's Lake, and near the police station. All three were close to the Dead Drop Point. But, when was the last time he was spotted? That's the question they needed to answer.

"I don't need to be a genius to tell you who can help you with that code Nora," Hancock pitched in, he was leaning on one of the pillars with his arms crossed, "Nick can help us out."

"You're right, Dez, don't worry we'll find him," Nora said. Dez didn't show any signs of it, but she was worried. Nora could just feel the tension around her. Ever since they lost Glory, Dez had been working hard to rewrite their safety protocols and told her agents not to take as many risks than before. Losing Deacon like this, could not be setting well.

"Dez, Deacon is a good agent. Hell, he was able to follow me around and I had no idea anything was up. He's smart enough to be ok, for now. I'm gonna find him," Nora said. She turned and started towards the door. Hancock gave Dez a sympathetic smile before following her out.

Once outside the church, they looked around for anybody at all. Being careful that nobody saw them leave this spot. A street that once been thriving with pedestrians, once again was dead dry of prying eyes. They immediately headed towards Diamond City, to Nick Valentine's Detective Agency. They walked at a quickened pace. Hancock stared at the ground, following her, lost in thought. It was a while before Nora got the courage to ask what was bothering him.

"What is it Hancock?"

"What, oh, nothing. I was just thinking," he said, "you know I don't like the guy to much. But I give him credit for how resourceful he is. It's odd for him to just up and vanish like this. Something tells me that he didn't plan on disappearing."

"Yeah," Nora stuttered.

"If someone did take him, they already knew who to look for. Especially with all the disguises he packs."

"I sometimes don't recognize him."

"See!" Hancock exclaimed, "You even know the guy and he still nails those disguises. All I'm saying is, whatever happened to him, it was done by someone who know's what they're doing." Nora's eyebrows pierced together, an emptiness appeared in her stomach.

"Maybe, maybe I should've went with him…" Hancock felt his gut drop. He didn't foresee the conversation taking this turn.

"Don't go blaming yourself for this, it wasn't your fault," Hancock said. Nora sighed and kept walking.

"I, I know it wasn't my fault. I just can't shake the "what if's" out of my head."

"You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be ok, I'm gonna be ok when we find Deacon and obliterate the assholes that snatched him."

Night fell upon the waste land, it was dark enough to see The Great Green Jewel's lights from anywhere. Nora and Hancock walked up upon the pinkish glowing sign that read "Nick Valentine's Detective Agency." He was the man for the job.

Inside was dusty and the air was thick of smoke from the cigarettes he always lit but never brought them up to his lips. Old habits die hard, even if an old clunker like Nick couldn't enjoy what started it in the first place. Sitting at his desk, burning cigarette in hand, he stared down at a new case file. Someone had left their loved one without a word, the customer was worried. His thoughts were interrupted by the screeching sound of his office door being opened. He looked up and was quite glad to see a dear friend walk through the door.

"Good to see you Nora, long time no see."

"Yeah, I didn't want to bother you because I've heard that your were busy enough cracking a speal of new cases," Nora said. Her eyes wandered to the floor: glossy, red, and puffy. Nick discarded his cigarette and stood to his feet.

"What's the matter?" He asked. Just then, the door squeaked open again. Hancock walked in and quickly closed the door behind him, leaning against it, he waved at Nick and gave an uneasy smile.

"Some glorified group attacked Sanctuary Hills," Nora said. Her throat choked up. Her nose was runny and her eyes turned an even brighter shade of red. Hancock sighed and pierced his eyebrows together.

"The deal is, they were working with the Institute Nick. They aren't to happy we blew the place up," Hancock said. Nick let out a huge sigh.

"We'll I'll be…guess we're not done kicking asses yet. Is everyone ok?"

"McCready got shot, he… um… almost didn't make it," Nora swallowed.

"Yeah, McCready is a tough cookie, I'll give him that. Even if he doesn't trust me. Anything else?"

"Yeah, Deacon, he's," Nora took a shaky breath, "He's missing. Nobody has seen him for days."

"Oh, shit," Nick mumbled, "Where was he last seen?"

"Just a couple blocks west of The Church, it's more of a maybe. Nobody can recognize him in his disguises," Nora stuttered.

"That's what I'm afraid of. What captures my attention is the attack prior to his disappearance. He could've been followed, tagged, or even drugged. As you said, he's pretty hard to recognise."

"That's what I thought too, this is so not our week," Hancock added.

"Tell me everything about this new group who hates your guts, pretty sure they had something to do with this. Take a seat and tell me everything, do not spare any detail."

 _Bug eyes popped out of his body, his face was twisted and contorted; his swollen purple tongue hung out. His body swayed in the breeze and roaring cheers came from the crowd. They were laughing. As if this was some good act of service to the rest of the Commonwealth. The more cheering and laughter emerged, the more blurred the swaying body's face was. Then, he saw it, it was but his own hanging. It was Deacon's body that was swaying in the breeze._

Deacon jumped awake. A low, constant, ringing was in his ears. It felt like a really bad hangover, but there was no way that he drank too much moonshine. The taste of blood tainted his mouth as he slowly became more alert. Little by little, his entire body came back to reality. Every bit of him ached.

The room was made out of concrete, it looked like one of the bunkers he'd been inside of. The bright, harsh, artificial lights made his aching head even worse. It was like someone was reaching into his brain and just twisting it up. The rope, that was used to tie him down in a chair, rubbed against his wrists and ankles. He struggled against them, but, the more he struggled the tighter they got. Deacon gritted his teeth. This was a fine mess he's gotten himself into.

Upon further inspection, he was in a locked room. It seemed you needed a terminal to unlock the door. Probably password protect as well. Deacon tilted his head down, to help block out the light, when he noticed that his sunglasses weren't slipping off. In fact, they weren't even on his face. But, somehow, the Pompadour wig he had on, stayed on. The worn wielders clothes he wore were a little more muddy than usually.

On the other side of the door, Deacon heard people mumbling, his eyebrows pierced together as the door finally screeched open. Some assholes in Military figurines walked in with heavy black boots and a AK-47 in hand. One had dark skin and the other was tan, upon the tan guys face rested his sunglasses. They both stood at each side of the entrance to the door.

"So, uh, I don't know if you know this, but, uh; those are my sunglasses you seem to have taken for yourself. Also, whoever you're looking for, I'm obviously not that person. So, if you could untie me and let me on my way, I won't cause you any trouble," Deacon tilted his head and gave a convincing smile, "Promise!" The two guys looked at each other and chuckled. Suddenly, loud footsteps where heard beyond the darkened door way and were getting closer.

"Deacon, is it?" A deep, dark voice said coming from the shadowy area beyond the door.

"Uh, no, names Larry. Although, Deacon is close…"

"Ahh, you banter like a child!" He stepped into the light. Deacon started giggling. "What are you laughing at?!"

"Nothing! It's just this _little_ joke that popped into my head. It's not even that funny, got a _short_ laugh out of me at first," Deacon giggled. The henchmen at the doors had a small smile across their face as they towered over their commander. He had black, curly hair. His face was coarse and grumpy looking, with a burn across the middle of his face.

"I see, making fun of my size, pretty brave for someone in your position," he slowly waltzed over to Deacon, "like being Mr. Perky, do we?" He circled around him, like a hungry lion stalking his prey. A really small, hungry lion. "That won't last long."

"So, at which, do I owe the pleasure to. For kidnapping a senseless, ol' wielder like me?"

"None of your concern. We have some questions we want answered. Very simple, you help us out, you live. You don't help us out, you will experience pain and suffering like never before. It would be like a nightmare you can't wake up from," he growled, staring into Deacon's soul. Deacon smiled awkwardly and tilted his head back.

"Uh, I don't know how I could possibly help you. Like I said before, my name is, Larry. I'm a welder and that guy has my sunglasses and I want those back! Those were 15 caps man, show some respect and dignity. They are mine!" Deacon said. The small, precious, hamster gritted his teeth and snapped his fingers. Soon, a cart full of all sorts of surprises was welded into the room. There was a creepy guy, who had a tall and slender build with a surgical mask and rubber gloves on. He wore a old lab coat and had wild eyes. He stood behind the cart, which displayed all sorts of potential bloody endeavors. The little man had a sickly grin on his face.

"Question number one, where is the Railroad HQ?"


End file.
